“…you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” -I Peter 2:5 (NIV)

The Local Church and Manifestation of the Truth – We are the Message

It was in being with Jesus that the disciples were transformed over time. It wasn’t so much whether they were fishing or eating or traveling; the thing was to be in His presence, to observe Him. Similarly, if we want to transform the local church and effectively reach the local mission field, we must inject it with the agent that will cause this change. That agent must still be Jesus; however, now as seen in a people who themselves manifest the very character of God. Perhaps we are not looking for technique or strategy so much as for people who are themselves in the process of being transformed to His image.

No New Techniques and Programs!

To every laymen, every saint, I’m wondering if we ourselves aren’t meant to be, rather than merely bring, the tool, the strategy, the technique? In II Corinthians, Paul epitomizes his ministry with the word “manifest.” The KJV gives “made manifest,” “manifestation,” and “manifestly declared” seven times in that book. For example, Paul says he, “renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God” (II Cor 4:2) and that, “though I be rude in speech, yet not in knowledge; but we have been throughly made manifest among you in all things” (II Cor 11:6). Rummaging around in Greek sources, Vine’s has it, “uncover, lay bare, reveal;” Strong’s has it, “to render apparent;” Green’s interlinear, “revealing. revelation, revealed, become known.” But most interesting was an insight from the TDNT: “what can be perceived by the senses, but in such a way that the perception involves understanding.”

When we think of transformational methods, we think of theories, tools, methods, words- all conceptual metaphors. But God uses a living metaphor, His people. The folks who are called to work together as the church and to serve in local organizations are themselves, by their lives, the tool for doing that work. Each saint is themselves, and more importantly, all of us saints collectively are, the living message of a God of grace, a God of love, a God of mercy. We are a people redeemed, unworthiness being made righteousness yet enfeebled in this flesh. This is the necessary backdrop for reaching our local mission field. What we are as the church speaks too often to make our message not credible, not even worthy of a moments curiosity by the local mission field, among whom we are called to be His image.

So when, we think of tools, and training, and methods (and even programs), perhaps we need to remember “what can be perceived by the senses, but in such a way that the perception involves understanding” is our very lives! McNeil (2000) points out the importance of modeling values to the post modern culture, “People want and need to see models of intentional living informed by biblical values and principles” (p.84). The whole point of chapter one by Winston (1999) speaks to this matter, beginning with, “who we are and how we behave have greater impact on the people …than what we say” (p.1) and ending with “Management writers of today cry out for role models, mentors, and leaders with a human touch” (p.22). The King James Version may be dropping out of vogue, but interestingly it uses the word “conversation” to mean our lifestyle. That may be old English, but it is still true today that how we live our lives speaks volumes to others. How important we become genuinely transformed and embedded into Him.

Are we transparent, safe in grace, secure in His love? Are we humble, knowing our redemption from such great sin was a gift? Do we have such deep faith we are not moved by trial of fire? Do we know His joy so deeply that the world has no bait for us? Have we been engulfed in His love such that it pours from our voices, from our touch, from our eyes? Do we daily take up our cross and let Him live in us instead? We are the tools he sends. What we are in secret, what we are in the dark night, what we are in the bright day of gathering with other disciples- that is our training ground, that is our knowledge and wisdom. Christ Himself must be able to shine out of our lives. In Antioch, they called the believer’s Christians, a word they made up to describe these followers.

The Transformation Process

When Paul tells Timothy, “the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also” (II Timothy 2:2) what does he mean by “among many witnesses?” Was it things like, “Yea, ye yourselves know, that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me. I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak” (Acts 20:34, 35)? Was it Timothy observing Paul in their travels together as in:

“…in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches” (II Cor 11:23-28)

“In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.” -Ephesians 2:21, 22 (NIV)

David tells us, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous” and Paul that, “All things work together for the good of [His followers].” Let us not walk past this: it is God doing the work through our present suffering to transform us, so we may be transforming agents. Go back and read those seven passages and see His hand being manifested–”God causes us to triumph in Christ; the Spirit of the living God writes in hearts; commending ourselves in the sight of God; that the life of Jesus might be made manifest in us; we trust your consciences are seeing/hearing the message we are; we have been made manifest”–none of this is from us, but through Him. (See II Corinthians 2:14; 3:3; 4:2, 10, 11; 5:11; 11:6.)

Conners, P. and Becker, B. (1979) Values and the organization: suggestions for research. In Rokeach, M. (1979) Understanding human values: individual and societal. New York: The Free Press

Vine, W. E. (1952). An expository dictionary of New Testament words. Nashville, TN: Royal Publishers, Inc.

Strong, James (1982). The new Strong’s exhaustive concordance of the Bible. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers (Original work published 1890).

Kittel, Gerhard (Ed.) (1963). Theological dictionary of the New Testament (TDNT). Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdman’s Printing Company.

McNeil, Reggie (2000) A work of heart: understanding how God shapes spiritual leaders. New York: Jossey-Bass Inc.

Holy Bible, KJV